Ask the Author: Jennifer Olmstead
Answered Questions (5)
Jennifer Olmstead
Take mental notes, and written notes, too. Significant events, conversations--anything that stops the world for a minute, can be a "cue." These cues may come back to you--repeatedly--later. Writing about and through these experiences not only helps you to process them, but especially in fiction, can resolve them to a degree. The end result may also be an incredible story that hundreds, or millions, of readers will laugh or cry over, or both.
Jennifer Olmstead
I would describe my motivation to write as more compulsion than inspiration! Experiences, memories, fears and dreams are all inspirational to me. But I typically sit down to start a story because it begins to nag at me and then to pull my concentration from other things to the point that I have start the story on the page--screen--whatever's in front of me.
Jennifer Olmstead
I write fiction. The best thing is also the worst thing. I can rewrite the experiences I've lived or observed and make some sense of it all. But things which resolve and people who redeem don't always equate with a happy ending.
Jennifer Olmstead
Honestly, I've never experienced writer's block. I'd write constantly if I could. What is most difficult for me is having to "shelve" my writing for other responsibilities. It's always there, waiting for me, nagging at me. My characters grow restless. That's when the 2, or 3, or 4 a.m. dash to the computer hits, and I cram in as much as I can before other obligations rear up and another day dawns.
Jennifer Olmstead
I'm pitching my new novel to agents, and have entered the manuscript in several writing competitions. I've also begun work on a new book.
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